This was the sec­ond dis­rup­tion on the trans-har­bour line this month.

More than 30 trains be­tween Thane and Pan­vel were can­celled, lead­ing to a huge chaos at Thane sta­tion. Of­fice-go­ers had to face im­mense in­con­ve­nience, most of whom chose to walk on the tracks back to Thane sta­tion and go Navi Mum­bai through Kurla.

Around 6.50am on Fri­day, the snag oc­curred near km 38/ 8, near the Thane Khadi bridge, when a lo­cal train from Thane was mov­ing to­wards Airoli.

Both up and down ser­vices were af­fected af­ter the in­ci­dent.

Com­muters were seen stranded not only on Thane but also on Airoli, Ra­bale, Ghan­soli, Kopar Khairane and Turbhe sta­tions. More than three lakh com­muters who travel on the route daily were af­fected due to the in­ci­dent.

An of­fi­cer from Thane sta­tion re­quest­ing anonymity said, “There are only two lines on trans-har­bour route. Af­ter the OHW snapped, the power sup­ply on the en­tire stretch was cut off. We had to can­cel 30 trains on this line.”

Ser­vices re­sumed within two hours. “We had re­quested the Thane and Navi Mum­bai Mu­nic­i­pal Trans­port to pro­vide ad­di­tional buses from Cidco and Van­dana bus stops in Thane to Vashi and Pan­vel,” he said.

He added that peo­ple were also al­lowed to travel from Kurla on the same pass or ticket.

“An­nounce­ments were also made, ask­ing peo­ple to take al­ter­na­tive route till the ser­vices are re­sumed,” he said.

The ser­vices were re­sumed at

8.25am, af­ter which, com­muters flocked back to the sta­tions.

On Fri­day, com­muters were seen crowd­ing bus stops where the Thane and Navi Mum­bai mu­nic­i­pal trans­port had ar­ranged for ex­tra buses.

Most com­plained of au­torick­shaws tak­ing ad­van­tage of the sit­u­a­tion and charg­ing ex­or­bi­tant fare from com­muters.

Nilofer Shaikh, 24, a com­muter said, “The trans- har­bour line is re­li­able com­pared to the cen­tral or har­bour line. How­ever this is the sec­ond time that ser­vices were hit. I travel to Vashi for work ev­ery morn­ing. To­day I went to the auto rick­shaw stand to take an auto. The driver de­manded Rs600 to Rs700 which is much more than the ac­tual fare which is merely Rs300 to Rs400.”

Shaikh chose to go by bus in­stead of re­ly­ing on train or au­torick­shaws.

This is the sec­ond in­ci­dent of train dis­rup­tion this month. On April 4, over 50 trains were can­celled when an over­head wire snapped on this line.

COM­MUTERS WERE SEEN STRANDED AT AIROLI, RA­BALE, GHAN­SOLI, KOPAR KHAIRANE AND TURBHE

PHOTOS: PRA­FUL GANGURDE

There was chaos at Thane sta­tion af­ter trains to Pan­vel were can­celled dur­ing morn­ing peak hours on Fri­day. Com­muters walk on the track from Thane rail­way sta­tion